inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that the Finance Ministry and State-Owned Enterprises Ministry are monitoring the debt of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which was recorded at Rp 5.57 quadrillion (US$369.04 billion) in the third quarter of 2018.
“About the SOEs’ debt, the state-owned enterprises minister and I are continuously monitoring it because they are the agents of development,” said Sri Mulyani in Nusa Dua, Bali, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that it was important because the SOEs also received funds from the government in the form of capital injections from the state budget.
“We need to keep the SOEs’ debt ratio [sound]. I believe the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry should always monitor the performance of the SOEs,” said Sri Mulyani.
Previously, apart from revealing the debt, the ministry’s restructuring and development undersecretary, Aloysius K Ro, also revealed several other points -- Rp 7.71 quadrillion in combined assets, Rp 2.41 quadrillion in combined equity and Rp 79 trillion in combined profits.
He said state-owned lenders have combined debt of Rp 3.31 quadrillion or 74 percent of the total SOE debts, while the remaining figure was the debt of non-lending institutions.
Aloysius said the figure was not a cause for concern as long as the SOEs were still capable of repaying their debts. “The debt equity ratio to capital is relatively secure. Therefore, we do not need to worry.”
He explained that the ability of any company to repay debt was also reflected in the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and not their annual profit. (bbn)
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